§ 18842 — Model Guidance For Combined Heat And Power Systems And Waste Heat To Power Systems

(a) In this section: (1) The term “additional services” means the provision of supplementary power, backup or standby power, maintenance power, or interruptible power to an electric consumer by an electric utility. (2) The term “waste heat to power system” means a system that generates electricity through the recovery of waste energy. (A) The terms “electric consumer”, “electric utility”, “interconnection service”, “nonregulated electric utility”, and “State regulatory authority” have the meanings given those terms in the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.), within the meaning of title I of that Act (16 U.S.C. 2611 et seq.). (B) The terms “combined heat and power system” and “waste energy” have the meanings given those terms in section 6341 of this title. (1) Not later than 180 days after November 15, 2021, the Secretary, in consultation with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and other appropriate entities, shall review existing rules and procedures relating to interconnection service and additional services throughout the United States for electric generation with nameplate capacity up to 150 megawatts connecting at either distribution or transmission voltage levels to identify barriers to the deployment of combined heat and power systems and waste heat to power systems. (2) The review under this subsection shall include a review of existing rules and procedures relating to— (A) determining and assigning costs of interconnection service and additional services; and (B) ensuring adequate cost recovery by an electric utility for interconnection service and additional services. (1) Not later than 18 months after November 15, 2021, the Secretary, in consultation with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and other appropriate entities, shall issue model guidance for interconnection service and additional services for consideration by State regulatory authorities and nonregulated electric utilities to reduce the barriers identified under subsection (b)(1). (2) The model guidance issued under this subsection shall reflect, to the maximum extent practicable, current best practices to encourage the deployment of combined heat and power systems and waste heat to power systems while ensuring the safety and reliability of the interconnected units and the distribution and transmission networks to which the units connect, including— (A) relevant current standards developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers; and (B) model codes and rules adopted by— (i) States; or (ii) associations of State regulatory agencies. (3) In establishing the model guidance under this subsection, the Secretary shall take into consideration— (A) the appropriateness of using standards or procedures for interconnection service that vary based on unit size, fuel type, or other relevant characteristics; (B) the appropriateness of establishing fast-track procedures for interconnection service; (C) the value of consistency with Federal interconnection rules established by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as of November 15, 2021; (D) the best practices used to model outage assumptions and contingencies to determine fees or rates for additional services; (E) the appropriate duration, magnitude, or usage of demand charge ratchets; (F) potential alternative arrangements with respect to the procurement of additional services, including— (i) contracts tailored to individual electric consumers for additional services; (ii) procurement of additional services by an electric utility from a competitive market; and (iii) waivers of fees or rates for additional services for small electric consumers; and (G) outcomes such as increased electric reliability, fuel diversification, enhanced power quality, and reduced electric losses that may result from increased use of combined heat and power systems and waste heat to power systems.